Owner left furious after his phone line is cancelled

His family has owned Mayfields Funerals in Southsea since 1993 but the business is in jeopardy after the main phone line was cancelled.

The 74-year-old said: ‘I had florists come into the shop and say we have been trying to get hold of you but the phone line says it is no longer working.

‘We rang it and realised it was no longer in service and I was immediately worried about our customers not being able to ring through at what is a difficult time for them.

‘We always answer the phone and if we ring customers we have separate phone lines so the main line is always free.’

David added: ‘Even at night we always answer the phone and now customers get an automated message that does not even explain the situation but just says the line is no longer taking calls.’

David spoke to his phone line operator TalkTalk and was told the line had been transferred to another provider.

David said: ‘I spoke to this other provider who did not seem to know about it and eventually I was told the phone line had been cancelled accidentally.’

He was told he would never get his phone line back.

David said: ‘I am mainly concerned for my customers as we have had that number for 26 years and people know that number.

‘Over the Christmas period unfortunately we get a number of deaths.

‘We need to be there for people at what is a horrendous time.’

And David is concerned the effect it will have on the business’ finances.

He said: ‘The cancelled number is also on all of our stationery, business cards, leaflets and our shop front so we are going to have to change all of that and it could cost a lot of money.

‘It is also affecting business as last week I had seven funerals and this week I only had one enquiry.’

A spokesperson from TalkTalk said: ‘We are sorry about the issue Mr Colbourne has encountered and we’re in the process of investigating the issue.’

To get in contact with Mayfields Funerals in Southsea call (023) 9217 8185.